Author: NLM Correspondent

By Peter Wanyonyi The social evolution of agricultural versus pastoralist societies has long been the subject of fascinating research in African anthropology. One theory attributes the relative ethnic characters of African societies to their traditional economies. To wit: Agricultural societies relied mostly on crops for survival. When a farmer has planted crops, they take time to grow and be ready for harvesting. In the intervening period, any sort of tumult that results in the farmer being uprooted represents an existential threat, since the crops cannot simply be uprooted and moved elsewhere: the interloper takes them over, the farmer loses and…

By Antony Mutunga In recent times, the number of governments depending on Internet shutdowns to control protests or violence between communities has been on the rise. According to the #KeepItOn report on Internet shutdowns in 2019 published by AccessNow, the number of internet shutdowns across the world have increased from a total of 75 cases in 2016 to 213 in 2019. Internet shutdowns are basically intentional disruptions on the internet and mobile applications making them inaccessible or effectively unusable for a particular group of people or region. With the increase expected to continue, Asia and Africa remain the most affected…

By Mark MacCarthy Recounting her experiences working with Barack Obama as a candidate and as president, Alyssa Mastromonaco says he would often challenge his staff with the question, “Uh, who thought this was a good idea?” It was an attempt to ensure his advisers took personal responsibility for the recommendations they made, especially when things went wrong. It’s about time someone asked that question about facial recognition software. It would oblige the developers and users of the technology to explain exactly why they think it’s a good idea to create something with that level of power. Asking that question of facial recognition…

Without significant intervention some of Africa’s most important heritage will be lost as a result of the impacts of climate change over coming decades. By Joanne Clarke, Elizabeth Edna Wangui, Grace W. Ngaruiya and Nick Brooks Very few academics or policy makers are talking about the impact of climate change on heritage. Yet heritage is essential for social wellbeing, for identity creation, for safeguarding traditional knowledge and livelihoods and for sustainable development. The conversations taking place are mainly on the effects of climate change in wealthier countries. One recent study estimates that only 1% of research on the impacts of climate change on heritage is related to Africa.…

By Dan Banik and Nikolai Hegertun There are growing signs that the aid relationship between the Global South and the Global North is changing fast. Many traditional Western donors are re-evaluating the role of aid while keeping a close eye on their own national interests. These changes may not be all bad. Since the turn of the century, aid policies have become both complex and fragmented. Four major international development policies and goal-setting projects were launched in 2015 alone. These are the Paris Agreement, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The global…

By Kathleen Klaus Conversations in Kenya have started around the upcoming 2022 presidential elections. Elections in Kenya tend to be highly contentious and there is often concern that, in some places, violence may erupt. Political violence has a long history in Kenya. It extends back to the British colonial state’s use of violence to control people, expropriate land, and suppress dissent. In independent Kenya, the regimes of Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi continued to use violence as a way to control land and intimidate political rivals. With the reintroduction of multi-party elections in 1992, politicians used violence to shape electoral outcomes. In the 1992 presidential elections, around 1,200…

By Kibe Mungai The Constitution 2010, for which nearly 70 percent of Kenyans voted to adopt on August 4, 2010, did not come on a silver platter but after a long struggle, during which thousands of people lost lives, limb, property and suffered State terror and humiliation. And so in the wake of the promulgation of the Constitution on 27th August, 2010 President Mwai Kibaki rightly observed:- “Many Kenyans have invested heavily over the years towards the realization of this constitution. Some paid the ultimate price as they sought freedom for their compatriots. Every Kenyan who contributed their views to…

By Ndung’u Wainaina Since attaining independence in 1963, Kenya has undergone a constitutional crisis that has lasted over five decades. The rule of law has been sabotaged, subverted, incapacitated, undermined and alienated at every turn. Kenya’s post-colonial history was an era – it can be argued that it still is – of dictatorship and pervasive, rampant, malevolent, endemic corruption. The colonial administration reflected orders from Britain rather than consensus obtained from the local community leaders. This form of indirect rule kept governance at a distance, thereby centralizing, racializing and ethnicizing power. The British administrative system was adopted, along with copy-pasted laws,…

In the largest mobilization of private resources to protect Africa’s frontline health workers from COVID-19, a new 30-member coalition last month announced it has begun delivering nearly 60 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to countries across sub-Saharan Africa in the initiative’s first round. The COVID-19 Action Fund for Africa (CAFA) is working in partnership with Ministries of Health to meet the essential PPE needs (including surgical masks, gloves, eye protection and more) of up to one million community health workers serving over 400 million people during the COVID-19 pandemic.  CAFA is anchored by a $10 million (Sh1 billion) commitment from…

One in three schoolchildren across the world have been unable to access remote learning during coronavirus school closures, the UN children’s agency said in August, warning of a “global education emergency”. Nearly 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures as countries locked down to prevent the disease from spreading, UNICEF said in a report. Yet at least one in three students have had no way of continuing their education at home. “For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to COVID-19, there was no such a thing as remote learning,” said UNICEF’s Executive Director Henrietta Fore in…